


13. The Tide

by brokenes



Series: Teen Wolf Challenge (Niall Horan Album) [13]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dead Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes, Derek Hale Nearly Dies, Derek and stiles kiss, Deucalion (Teen Wolf) Being an Asshole, Drowning, Eventual Fluff, Every Werewolf Wants Stiles Stilinski, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Sheriff Stilinski, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of alcoholism, Minor Aiden/Lydia Martin, Post-Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski, Scott is a Good Friend, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out About Derek/Stiles Relationship, Sheriff Stilinski Knows About Werewolves, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski Has Panic Attacks, Stiles Stilinski Saves Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski Saves The Day, The Alpha Pack, The Pack Ships It, Wolfsbane as Weapon, aiden and ethan are assholes, but very lowkey, stiles considers the bite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25138102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenes/pseuds/brokenes
Summary: The twins had the sheriff and Derek dangling over their certain deaths, giving Stiles the choice to only save one. And he'll be damned if he didn't kill himself trying to save them both.
Relationships: Aiden/Lydia Martin, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Teen Wolf Challenge (Niall Horan Album) [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1209930
Kudos: 117





	13. The Tide

**Author's Note:**

> The gifs used aren't my own so credit to their owners.

It was an aggressively stormy night, with rain, lightening and thunder, and pretty much everything that could make matters worse. Stiles’ eyes followed the alpha twin’s morphed figure climb the metal steps, the claws of their hands and their feet clinking disturbingly, a dazed Derek and a seemingly asleep sheriff carried under each of their armpits. Their figures still, outside of the climbing motion of the twins. Stiles could sometimes see Derek’s head hitting against the frame of the stairs, or the sheriff’s shoe getting caught on one of the steps, and he’d silently wish for them to wake up, to regain control and just – be okay. But it was a viciously stormy night and the sheriff wasn’t a fan of heights so maybe it was better than he didn’t have to see it, that he didn’t have to follow the unraveling of this situation, and the unraveling of Stiles that would surely come along with it.

“ Ethan, Aiden, just – come down and we’ll talk. I don’t know what you expect to come out of this but – get down here, come on.” Stiles called, watching as they climbed higher, moving past diving boards, until they were at least 100 ft above ground. Scott screeched to a halt next to Stiles, followed by Isaac, Lydia, and Liam.

“ What’s going on? What – what do they want?” Scott questioned, his injuries still unhealed. They’d been ambushed by the twins during one of their pack meetings at the school. The twins had beat the crap out of all of them, and when they thought they were down and it was over, Derek and the sheriff were nowhere to be found. Stiles was the first to run out of the school, having suffered the least injuries because – well, he was the human, and very few people considered him a threat, when there were multiple werewolves, a werecoyote and a banshee involved. Malia had to stay behind with Cora because they had been hurt worse than most. They wanted to be there, they would have been, if Scott hadn’t ordered them both down, knowing that if they’d showed up, they would have been more of liability than actual help, and they couldn’t afford to have any more of those. They were already in so much shit, they didn’t know how to crawl out of.

“ They’re not saying anything yet. Are you – is everybody okay?” Stiles blindly put a hand on Scott’s shoulder, and squeezed.

“ Yeah, man, we’re going to be fine. I told Malia and Cora to go home till they’re healed.”

“ Good. Good call. Ethan, just tell me what the fuck you want!” Stiles yelled out, his eyes then seeking Lydia out, until she approached, looking guilty, weighed down by regret. Stiles didn’t want to think of all the reasons why she would be guilty, when his father’s and Derek’s lives were on the line.

“ Can you talk to them, please? I don’t – I don’t know what else to do here.” Lydia silently nodded, swallowing down whatever was trying to make it past her lips, before speaking.

“ Aiden, I – we just want to talk. What do you intend on doing with the sheriff and Derek? What do you need from us to get this over with?” The twins hesitated for barely a second, before carrying on with their climb, until they reached the highest board, which was roughly 300 ft high.

“ Okay, Stiles, we can talk now.” The twins spoke, holding Derek and the sheriff out, each of them over an edge of the board.

“ How generous of you. What the hell was the point of all of this? Why are we here?” Stiles threw his arms away from his body, frustrated and so fucking helpless.

“ Fun fact: this lake is where most agricultural wastes end up. You know, any expired fertilizer, bad crops, and so on. With all of that, comes any failed experimental mixtures that were meant to create a new species of plants.”

“ Okay? Is there a point to this science class?”

“ There is actually. Because, Stiles, one of those experiments happened to create a vicious type of wolfsbane. One that scientists haven’t found any antidote for because they hadn’t realized what they’d created could be that.. catastrophic for creatures like us.” Stiles gulped, his eyes shifting away from his father and towards Derek. He started to calculate all the ways he could die tonight. There was the fall, then the wolfsbane, then whatever the hell they gave him so make him look so.. distant, like he wasn’t there at all.

“ You – you would die too. If you come anywhere near it, you would – “ Lydia hesitantly noted, inching closer to Stiles, as if trying to console him. Like there was no way he wouldn’t need it by the end of all of this.

“ You’re right, we would. Which is why we are all the way up here, and Stilinski and Hale are the ones dangling by a claw each.”

“ And, what? You randomly decided on killing Derek tonight? Why? And why is my dad here?”

“ Your dad is here, because we needed to get **_you_** here.”

“ Me?” Stiles’ eyebrows furrowed. His head span with all the meaningless information that was being thrown at him, and the pending choice that was closing in on him, urging him to make it. To make the wrong one, because there were no right ones. There was nothing right about all of this.

“ Yes, you. You see, Deucalion tried getting Derek on his side, and he wasn’t cooperative. Then, he went to Scott and was rejected, yet again. So, now, he doesn’t care about them, not even enough to torment them a little. He **_does_** care about you, though. He wants to turn you.”

“ Turn me? But – why?”

“ Who knows. He has this weird fascination when it comes to you. **_We_** personally don’t get it, we think this is a total waste of our time and resources. Doesn’t mean we won’t enjoy watching you squirm till you can’t anymore.”

“ So, what, if he doesn’t say yes to the bite, you drop the sheriff and Derek?” Scott questioned, stepping forward, always trying to shield, to protect. But even **_he_** knew there was very little he could do to save Stiles from this.

“ Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.” The twins mocked, grinning all maniacally.

“ And if I do – say yes, I mean. You come down here with both of them safe and intact?”

“ Stiles, you can’t seriously be considering this, you don’t – “ Scott interjected, his words losing sound, losing persistence, when Stiles looked into his eyes with all the resignation in the world.

“ Well, there is a bit of twist.”

“ What twist?” Lydia groaned, hating the man she thought she could love, hating herself for thinking there was anything in him **_to be_** loved.

“ Deucalion’s entire shtick is giving people choices, and watching their process of making them. You can’t have everything with him. You can’t save everyone. So, unlike what he did with us, and what he would have done with Scott – which is give the choice to either kill everyone you love or get killed – he decided to give you the mild version of this. If you say yes to the bite, you get to choose one of them to get dropped, and the other, we will bring down to you, in one piece.”

“ What the **_fuck_**? I can’t do that. That’s not a fucking choice I can make. Who in the hell – what – I **_can’t_** do it. You can’t make me.” Tears started filling Stiles’ eyes, as he brought angry, shaky fingers to wipe them away, before anyone could notice them.

“ Oh, but we can, Stiles.” The twin started tearing right at the middle, dissociating, until they became two again, each of them holding a body by its legs, looking right at Stiles as if daring him to say no. 

“ Can I – I don’t know, can they hear me? What did you do to them? Why aren’t they.. awake?” Stiles was stalling. He knew he was, Aiden and Ethan knew he was, everyone around knew he was.

“ Sorry, Stiles, they’re not up for a chat. This one digested some kanima venom, which takes longer to get out of his system than if he was just scratched by one. And your dad is just on good, old fashioned sedatives. So, you don’t have to worry about either of them waking up any time soon. You probably already said your last words to one of them. Maybe both, up to you.” Aiden and Ethan started shaking their legs, each of them letting go of a limb, showing off their free hands.

“ Time is running out, Stiles.”

“ Okay, okay, fuck, stop doing that. Just – give me a fucking minute.” Stiles turned away from the twins, his back arching slightly, like it could give out. His chest heaved with breaths he couldn’t take in, couldn’t let out, couldn’t do anything about. He knew he was well into a panic attack and he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.

“ Stiles, hey, man, listen, you don’t have to do this. I mean, we’re not even sure they’ll stick to their word and let one of them go. They could kill them then us and – you would have taken the bite for nothing. Remember when you told me that you have to want it for it to take? You don’t want it. I know you don’t, so this could kill you too. It’s not – “

“ I know, Scott. Fuck. I know all of that, I just – I can’t let them **_die_**. And I can’t choose who to live. I can’t pick any of them over the other. I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do here. I can’t **_breathe_**.” As soon as the cry fell past Stiles’ lips, everyone was circled around him, leaning against him and carrying the weight that he was helplessly unable to bear. Stiles wrapped his shaky arms around Scott, put his nose into his shoulder and breathed in – or at least tried to – and it sounded like his very last breath. Everything about this felt like it could be the last.

“ I love you, guys, and I – I don’t know what’s going to happen, but – whoever comes out of this alive, just tell them I’m sorry. Tell them I did my best and – there was no good option. There was no right answer to any of this.”

“ Stiles, you’re not going to **_die_**. Stop talking like that. We’ve got your back, and – we will figure something out. We always do.” Even Scott’s smiled looked ingenuine, like he didn’t quite believe it either.

“ Yeah. I am sure we will. I just – “

“ Time’s up.” All of a sudden, the twins released Derek and John, their bodies free falling to their certain doom. Stiles was in the water before either of their bodies crashed through the surface. Scott almost jumped right after him, thrashed and kicked and roared, until Lydia shouted over him that the water was poisonous to werewolves, that he shouldn’t give Stiles another body to carry out. He deflated, let his body crash into Lydia’s arms, his eyes looking over her shoulders, as Stiles came up, screaming out Derek’s name, then his father’s, then Derek’s again. Isaac pointed him to where he saw his father’s body make impact, and he dove again.

The water was heavy, like tar. Every time his arms pushed water away from his body, it felt like it was twirling around him, taking over more and more bits, drowning him in something worse than just water. The rain was still coming down, layering on top of the existing body of water, burying them deeper, pushing them further away from ever cracking the surface. Stiles had little to no vision, all his limbs hitting against the water, diving down or swimming up, he couldn’t quite tell anymore. For barely a minute, a minute when his lungs felt constricted like they were about to implode, and the water seemed endless and stubborn like it wouldn’t let any of them go, he thought that if he just opened his mouth, if he just – stopped, he would never have to know. Would never have to lose. But then, his hand touched something solid, like an elbow, and he clung to it with a death grip, and started swimming like it was the only thing he knew how to do. He reached the last layer of water, felt the rain on his head, and inhaled so hungrily, so achingly. He looked around, to see that he had his father’s arm in his hands. He had gotten his father out.

Stiles swam to shore, handed the sheriff over to them, and didn’t wait to see the damage done to him, didn’t have time to touch and miss and assure, before diving back in for Derek. He knew that technically, there were no waves in lakes, that the water should be still, unmoving and unchanged, not going anywhere, but the storm seemed to be doing things to it, altering its nature and morphing it into something like a tide, that was taking Derek away, was carrying Stiles somewhere that he didn’t want to go, never wanted to see. Stiles had to come up for air, barely looked at Scott physically putting his father together.

“ How long has it been?” Stiles’ voice sounded wrecked, like he was still gargling under water, like his body was now more water than anything else.

“ 5 minutes maybe?” Liam answered, looking away from the sheriff to aid Stiles somehow.

“ Fuck, that’s too long. I don’t – where the hell is he? Can any of you see him?” Liam shook his head, and Stiles decided to swim above water for a few seconds, breathe in a bit more, prepare his lungs for another dive, but then he noticed a head of hair, facing down, and with all his might, with everything that wasn’t drowned out of him, he started swimming. He got to the body, turned it around and it was Derek. Stiles couldn’t tell if he was breathing, didn’t know if he was digging up a dead body, but he held him under one arm, and swam with the other, reaching a part of the shore that was facing the road and not the forest which was where the others were, but at least it was land. Stiles took off his wet shirt, feeling his body going into hypothermia. He pulled Derek towards him, carrying his head in his arm, and using his free hand to slap him back to consciousness. It wasn’t working. Nothing was working.

Stiles put his ear to Derek’s mouth, waited and waited for any air to come out, for a heartbeat to pierce through the blocking in his ears, but it never came.

“ Fuck, Derek, wake up, you have to wake up. This can’t be it, come on, please, I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you, I’m sorry they had to fucking take you at the first place, I – I’m so sorry, please just – you can’t die, Derek, you can’t fucking die on me now.” Stiles started CPR, his body trembling, everything surrounding him tilting, falling away from its axis, leaving him feeling so unbalanced, unhinged, and all wrong.

“ Derek, please. Please. You can’t do this. I can’t do this without you. You have to wake up. Cora will kill me if something happens to you. You can’t let the alpha pack win. They can’t fucking win. Please, Derek, **_please_**. You can’t leave. Don’t leave me.” Stiles was breathing into Derek’s mouth, when he started coughing out, milky water coming out of his mouth and his nose. Stiles tilted him to the side, hitting against his back twice to get the rest of it out, before bringing him back, with his head against Stiles’ chest, and Stiles’ arms trying to touch on everything, make sure it felt the way he’d always imagined it to.

“ Okay, okay, are you okay? Are you with me? Fucking hell, Derek.”

“ I – I can’t feel anything. Are you – are you okay? Why are you crying?” Derek’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, still drowning under all those tears that Stiles was unable to withstand. Derek tried to will his arms to move, wanting so desperately to console, to comfort, to wipe Stiles’ tears away.

Stiles wanted to say something – anything, but things were pouring, out of him and onto him, and he was going under again. He started feeling loose, untied, his arms slipping away from Derek, the top part of his body falling – the way Derek and his father had – with his legs still bearing the weight of Derek’s head. The last thing he heard was Derek crying out for him, calling his name, and then everything went dark.

It was hard to blink all that darkness away, there seemed to be so much of it, and he was falling and falling and falling. He waited for the crashing sound, for the whiplash he’d get when he broke surface, for the coming apart of his bones that would come with the impact. But he felt fingers against his hand, moving up and down, stopping at the beat point before moving again. He heard the distant beep of a heart monitor, smelled the disinfectants in the air, and when he opened his eyes, the lights were white and blinding, the complete opposite of what he’d seen last. He tilted his head to the side, and Derek was retrieving the fingers that Stiles had felt earlier, was sitting up, no longer wet and clammy, the color returning to his face after looking so.. blue. Stiles immediately went to sit up, wanting to move closer, to touch before that mirage faded away, but Derek’s hand fell onto his chest, pushed him back, and it was solid, present, sure.

“ You’re okay.”

“ I am.” Derek nodded, smiling regretfully, almost like he was sorry that he was.

“ And my dad?”

“ Alive. But the fall really did a number on him.”

“ How bad?” Stiles sighed, closing his eyes before he could see the words of goodbye spelled out, the unmistakable grief dancing across Derek’s features, bragging about claiming the only parent Stiles had left.

“ Pierced a lung. Broke 3 ribs. Dislocated a shoulder. Fractured his pelvis. He had an internal bleeding but they fixed that up in surgery. It’s all about the healing time now, but – he should be fine. He is going to be okay.” Stiles could have cried in joy or pure agony, if he wasn’t done with water for a lifetime or two.

“ And the rest?”

“ Everyone is fine, Stiles.” Stiles nodded, wishing he could will his body back to sleep, until he could feel like a human being again.

“ Scott told me what happened. With the twins. I – I am sorry I couldn’t help. I don’t remember any of it, just, the fight at school, and then – waking up paralyzed, and watching you pass out.”

“ I fainted like a wuss, didn’t I?” Stiles groaned, but he was too tired to put any real heat behind his words.

“ Your body was almost going into shock by the time the ambulance got there, your scent was – God awful, and your heartbeat wasn’t stable at all. Scott even said you’d been hyperventilating before, so it’s a damn miracle that your body made it this far, that you got everyone out before, you know, it gave out.”

“ I didn’t get everyone fast enough. Look at what happened to my dad. And – your heart wasn’t beating when I found you, you – you weren’t **_breathing_**.” Stiles’ scent started souring again, Derek couldn’t keep his distance, taking Stiles’ hand and caressing it again, refusing to dwell on the implications of it.

“ I wouldn’t have ever breathed again if it weren’t for you, Stiles. And – I know I never made a thing out of this but – you saving my life, isn’t a small deal. Especially when, I mean, you could have chosen your dad. You could have gotten him out and just – called it a day, and – “

“ No, I fucking couldn’t have,” Stiles went to pull his hand away from Derek in offense, but Derek held on, “ How could you – do you really think – I never would have just left you there, Derek. I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“ I know that,” Derek nodded, nothing about him weary or unsure, “ But – your dad’s life was on the line, Stiles, and – I know how much he means to you. So, I – I guess what I’m trying to say is, I wouldn’t have blamed you. If you’d chosen him. If you’d just saved him.”

“ I wanted to.” Stiles admitted, shame imprinted across his face, every part of him wishing it wasn’t true, wishing he’d never said it, had never thought it.

“ And, that’s okay.” Derek remained calm, unfazed.

“ But it’s not.” Stiles shook his head, bringing the arm that Derek wasn’t holding to lay across his face, hide behind it.

“ Your life isn’t any less worthy than his. There are people who can’t afford to lose you either. You – you’re important too. To Cora, to the pack, to – to me. You’re important to **_me_** , and – maybe for a split second, I thought I would just – choose him but also, I would have killed myself trying to save you. I would have **_died_** , before having to choose to let you go.” Stiles moved his arm away from his face, tilting his head towards Derek, wanting so desperately for him to believe his words, to know that he meant it. That he couldn’t bear the thought of losing Derek either.

“ You – “ Derek paused, cleared his throat, overcome with.. everything. “ You’re important to me too.” Stiles’ face lifted, his lips moving into an achingly wide grin, as he nuzzled further into his pillow, bringing his other hand to envelop Derek’s between his own.

“ Yeah? That’s cool.” Stiles cleared his throat, tried not to sound **_too_** excitable and squeaky. Derek shook his head, chuckled, and leaned in to run his fingers through Stiles’ hair.

“ Shit, wait, what about the wolfsbane in the water? Are you, like, okay? Did someone check you over?” Stiles was immediately on high alert again, his eyes moving over Derek, trying to see if there was anything misplaced, or disfigured about him.

“ Well, uh, Deaton did some form of.. transfusion? I guess that’s what it’s called. He said it involved draining me completely, from blood and everything, then filter it, to find samples of this species of wolfsbane, then pump me up with fresh, non-poisoned blood.”

“ What the fuck? But, you’re.. okay, right? **_Really_** okay? You’re not going to like, suddenly collapse or something?” Derek smiled, still unable to wrap his head around the fact that someone cared about him this much.

“ From what they’re telling me, no, I should be fine. But, I mean, Deaton mentioned that it was an unfamiliar type of wolfsbane so they can’t be really sure. We’ll just have to take it day by day and see.” Stiles’ eyes were overtaken by panic, pushing all the infatuation and relief to the side, and Derek squeezed on the hands he was holding and hoped it would be enough.

“ I am okay **_now_** , don’t worry. I’m fine.” Stiles let out a shaky exhale, inching his head closer to Derek, and Derek took that as a sign, laying his own head on the bed, so that his and Stiles’ were across from one another, their lips aligned despite them being up-side-down.

“ That was really scary.” Stiles admitted.

“ It was.” Derek agreed.

“ You were scared too? I thought you didn’t remember anything.” Stiles couldn’t remember a time when he **_saw_** the fear on Derek, let alone, heard him admit to it, announce it to the world, or even to Stiles himself.

“ I don’t. But, I remember laying there with the storm hailing down on us, and you just – slipping away. I remember screaming out your name, trying **_so_** fucking hard to get anything to move, to touch you or – at least, tilt my head just enough to **_see_** you, to know what’s wrong and – fix it. I – I remember your scent, filled to the brim with ache and fear, it was like I could **_feel_** it, like I was hurting for you, with you. I remember a bunch of things and none of them good. I just – I am glad it’s over. And – you’re okay.” Stiles nodded, almost in disbelief. It was a damn miracle that everyone made it out alive.

“ What if – what if they keep coming? I mean, I don’t know if anyone told you, but apparently Deucalion is sort of obsessed with me these days and – this time, it was you and my dad, I don’t – I can’t keep doing this. I can’t come this close to getting you killed. But – I don’t – I don’t **_want_** to be a werewolf, Derek, especially not by Deucalion.”

“ Then, you won’t be. You can’t say yes just to please him, Stiles, you know that’s not how this works. Plus, we tried humoring him before, and look what happened. We lost so much already, because of him.” Derek looked distant, like he was somewhere far away from Stiles, like he was losing again. The hand he had in Stiles’ hair stilled, and the other started to tremble, like it was still trying to stop his claws from tearing through Boyd.

“ Hey,” Stiles moved his hand, laid it against Derek’s cheek. Derek sighed, melted slightly into Stiles’ touch.

“ What would you have done?” Stiles questioned curiously.

“ About the bite?” Stiles nodded, urging Derek on.

“ I don’t know, Stiles. I was born into a family of werewolves. I’ve always been a werewolf, I don’t know how not to be. So, I can’t really picture being in your shoes. What I do know though, is that Deucalion won’t let any of us go, even if you say yes to him. We’ll just end up losing you, and if you make it through the bite, you’ll – you won’t be Stiles, ever again. You won’t feel like yourself. And there won’t be taking any of this back. There won’t be fixing it. If you’re asking me for advice, then I say, tell him to go to hell. Every single time. And we’ll beat him. All of us, together. We will win.”

“ Since when are you so optimistic and zen?” Derek rolled his eyes, but an amused smile was taking over his features.

“ I just have something to believe in now, I guess.”

“ Hmm, and what would that be?”

“ You. Us.”

“ Us?” Stiles wiggled his eyebrows, wanting to hear it again, wanting Derek to always look at him just like that.

“ Yes, us. Asshole.” Stiles was laughing, eyes squeezed shut, and Derek did something he’d been wanting to do for probably years now. He leaned in, pecked Stiles’ lips so fast, like he wanted him to miss it. Wanted him to not hold it against him. And Stiles stopped laughing, his eyes so wide, it was almost comical. But when he didn’t see anything horrified or regretful in Derek’s eyes, he dove back in for a proper kiss.

“ Well, this is new.” A voice startled them, Stiles started flailing in typical Stiles-fashion, and Derek straightened in his seat, biting down on his lips to keep from smiling like an idiot in love.

“ Cora, hi! How are you doing? All good?” Stiles squeaked like a children’s toy that was pressed on a little too hard.

“ I’m fine. Relax, it’s nothing we haven’t seen coming a mile away.” Cora rolled her eyes, approached her brother’s seat and squeezed his shoulder. She was still having trouble shaking the fear of losing him, of having to bury him too.

“ Who’s we?” Derek asked, tilting his head upwards to look at his sister.

“ Everyone. Literally, every single one of us. Except for Isaac, I think, but he’s too gullible when it comes to these things.”

“ Good to know.” Derek groaned, knowing that this would be the talk of the pack for the following few months at the very least. One look at Stiles though, and he knew it would all be worth it.

“ Have you seen my dad? Did Malia heal up okay? And you?”

“ Me and Malia were back to normal before you were admitted here. And yes, I saw your dad, and he’s been asking for you for a while now. Which is why I’m here, to put you, in this wheel chair, and take you to see him.”

“ Wheel chair? What for? I can walk.” Stiles removed the covers, annoyed and slightly offended by the delicacy of how everyone around him was handling him. He put one leg on the ground, then another, and right as he stood, the world started aggressively spinning.

“ Okay then, if you’re done trying to prove a point, Mr. Macho Man,” Cora swooped in with the wheel chair, catching Stiles’ figure before it collapsed to the ground, “ Let’s take you to your dad, you absolute fucking **_idiot_**.”

“ Don’t call him that!” Derek defended.

“ Don’t tell me what to do. One fucking kiss and you think you can speak for him all of a sudden.”

“ I am not speaking for him, I just don’t appreciate you calling him an idiot.”

“ Even when he’s acting like one?”

“ He wasn’t being an idiot, he was trying to be dependent, and he had a lapse of judgment.”

“ A lapse of judgment? Is it just going to be like that from now on? Are you just going to – Hi, Mr. Stilinski, here is your son.” Cora interrupted her own rant to be respectful of the sheriff, pushing Stiles’ chair until it was the closest it could be to the sheriff’s hospital bed, before redirecting her focus towards Derek.

“ Hey, dad, are you okay? Are you in any pain?” Stiles asked in the background, taking his father’s hands, who was still watching the seemingly pointless argument between Derek and Cora.

“ I am okay, son, how are you? I’ve been asking to see you since I woke up after surgery.”

“ I’m good, just a little.. weak? I guess. Derek told me what the doctors said about – “

“ Yeah, what is this all about?” The sheriff inched closer, trying to whisper to Stiles without disturbing the heated conversation going on. Stiles tilted his head towards the arguing pair, that were whisper-yelling now, instead of full-on shouting.

“ Who knows, dad, just let it play out.”

Scott had to come and physically break the fight up when he heard Cora smacking Derek across his head, and Derek’s breathing was so harsh, it sounded like a bull preparing to run straight into its victim. Liam held Cora while Scott held Derek, and they tried to shout out their apologies over all the groans and profanities and empty threats.

“ Aren’t you glad you’re an only child?” The sheriff asked, his eyebrows still somewhere by his hairline, completely at a loss. Stiles snorted, shook his head because he kind of was, as he patted his father’s hand lovingly.

“ I am but I am also glad **_you’re_** okay. So glad, dad.”

“ So am I, kiddo. There were – a very few instances, especially being on the job, that I truly didn’t know if I’d be able to come home to you. And this one, yeah, was definitely one of them.”

“ **_Dad_** ,” Stiles whined, like a wounded animal that was watching everyone he’d ever loved be put down.

“ It’s okay. We’re okay, and that’s what matters. I just – I’ve been sitting here, thinking, trying to remember what I’d said last to you, if I’d hugged you before leaving the house yesterday, if – if I’d told you I loved you. I kept thinking about all those lasts, if they would be enough, if I’d go having no regrets. And – I think I wouldn't. I do, have regrets, I mean. Because, I didn’t tell you I loved you yesterday, Stiles. I didn’t – I was **_late_** and there was this grand theft case that we were working on and I – I assumed I’d catch you for dinner and tell you then. But, there was no dinner. There wasn’t even lunch, because we ended up here. Even that, we wouldn’t have even had that, if it wasn’t for you, Stiles. You, being the bravest, strongest, most giving person I have ever met, and almost killing yourself to save your dad. And to save Derek. And son, that is – if this had been the last thing I’d see you do in this life, then this would have been a good last. A last that I would have no regrets about. Because I know I wasn’t always there for you as a parent, as a father, and I failed you, so many times, yet – you still ended up growing into this – incredible human being, and – I am so proud of you, Stiles. And I love you. I love you, and I won’t ever be able to tell you enough, but know that I do.” Stiles choked on a sob, threw himself over his dad like a shield, like he was creating the wall to a bubble that would envelop them both in love and gratitude and – home. John circled his arms around his son and held on **_so_** tight.

“ I love you too, dad, just in case that wasn’t obvious.” The sheriff chuckled, his chest vibrating against his son’s, but the chuckle breathlessly turned into a cry, and the more he did that, the more it hurt, so Stiles detached himself, fell back into his chair, and waited till the clear discomfort faded from his father’s features.

“ You good?”

“ Yeah, yeah. Tell me about you, though, Scott didn’t fully fill me in. What happened after the school?” And so Stiles dove back in, sharing everything that had happened, his hands moving to act out what they could, his tone rising and falling with the events he was telling, and his dad was hooked, all his attention on his son, knowing how he told his stories, loving it now more than ever.

“ Holy shit, they wanted to give you the bite? For some reason, I can’t quite picture you being a werewolf.”

“ Would you – I mean, how would you feel about it?” The sheriff took a few seconds to think, to really try to picture it, but then he shrugged.

“ It wouldn’t make much of a difference to me. My son would always be my son, as long as it’s still you, then I won’t love you any less. At least I wouldn’t have to worry as much about you getting injured or something, the super healing powers would definitely put my mind at ease a little bit more.”

“ Do you think I should take it?”

“ From Deucalion? Absolutely not.”

“ But – in general?”

“ Do **_you_** want to take it?”

“ Not really. I like being a human in a pack with werewolves and banshees. I like being me, and even when Peter once offered to give me the bite, the thought didn’t **_appeal_** to me. But you didn’t know about the supernatural world back then, now you do, so that changes things. How exactly, I’m not sure yet.”

“ Did you think I wouldn’t accept you? When Peter offered, was that one of the reasons why you said no?”

“ Yeah. It definitely was. Not that it would be held against you or anything, but, I mean, it’s not exactly an expected topic to breach with a parent. I can’t just come up to you and announce that I am now a werewolf who can live forever and heal and grow a beard whenever I feel like it. I wouldn’t have known how to tell you even if I’d wanted to. I didn’t know how to tell you a lot of things back then.”

“ I’m sorry, Stiles.” And the sheriff sounded it too.

“ No, dad, that’s not – you have nothing to apologize for. I was just, trying so hard to protect you from all of this, to separate you from anything related to that world, and I ended up putting you right in the middle of it, without you even knowing how to defend yourself. It was.. a huge mishap on my part, not yours.”

“ Thank you for entrusting me with.. everything, Stiles. And thank you for saving my life.”

“ Like I had a choice.”

“ I’m not just talking about this time. You saved me a long time ago without even knowing it, Stiles. After.. your mom, I never would have come out of it if I hadn’t had you. I never would have let myself **_live_** , if you hadn’t given me all those reasons to. And then with the nogitsune, you went through all of this.. shit, because you wanted to save me from Jennifer. And you did. You saved me, and Chris, and Melissa. You saved us all then. You saved us all now. So. Thank you.”

“ You saved me too, dad. More times than you would ever know.” There was a dark confession layered there somewhere, and if the sheriff let himself think about it, he would unravel something he didn’t think he had the stomach for. So, he pushed his son’s head until it laid on the bed, and he patted it lovingly.

“ I love you, kiddo. And I’m so lucky to have you.”

“ Love you too.” Stiles whispered, closing his eyes around all the good feelings filling him up inside. It almost felt like he would overflow, drown them in something they wouldn’t want to swim out of. 

“ Something else may have happened that I forgot to tell you about.” Stiles started, hoping that the blissful moment would overshadow the awkwardness of his news.

“ What is it? Are you – you’re okay, right?” His dad went to carry his head, lift it to have a better look at him, but Stiles buried it further into his sheets.

“ I’m fine, it’s nothing like that. It’s just – uh, well, Derek and I sort of kissed?” Stiles gave his father a few seconds to digest the information, to react to it somehow, but it was dead silent.

“ I mean, I don’t know what it means yet or if it will go anywhere, but – I didn’t want to hide it from you, so.”

“ Okay.” The sheriff breathed out, steady and certain and so unbothered, it was almost annoying.

“ Okay?” Stiles lifted his head then, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and maybe a bit of irritation too.

“ Yeah, okay. What do you want me to say? I told you, as long as it’s still you, it doesn’t change anything for me.” Thinking about it, Stiles didn’t think his dad would have a problem with who he loved, not really, but a small part of him was still terrified, because Derek was a werewolf with no family and an endless list of enemies, and Stiles had never had a boyfriend before, let alone a supernatural creature boyfriend and – was that what Derek was now? His **_boyfriend_**?

“ You really mean that? You would be – okay with me dating Derek?”

“ Hell yeah, I would be. I would be okay with you dating whomever, as long as you’re happy and safe. And – I know that Derek would do everything in his power to make that happen for you. I **_know_** that.”

“ Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Stiles nodded, a renewed sense of safety flourishing in his chest.

“ He’s also ridiculously hot, so.” Stiles shrugged, earning an amused chuckle from his dad.

There was a knock on the door then, Derek stood there, looking embarrassed and slightly grumpy.

“ Sorry about that, sir. She was just – “ Derek was interrupted by a nearby groan, indicating that Cora was listening in on what he was saying. “ Sorry. That was inappropriate and childish. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you and Stiles were okay, before heading home.”

“ You’re leaving?” Stiles stood, ignored the sway of the ground beneath him, but Derek started moving then, inching closer with his arms spread out, prepared to catch Stiles if needed.

“ **_Sit down_** and stop moving so much. Do you **_want_** to pass out and crack your head open?” Derek helped Stiles back into his seat, his voice parental and strict.

“ No, I don’t. I’m fine. Are you leaving now?” Stiles repeated, feeling Derek’s grip around his arms, grounding and reassuring.

“ I was going to, yeah. I’ve been here since Deaton let me go. I need a shower, and probably some sleep too, but, I mean, I could stay? If you want me to, I can just – shower here, I’m sure Melissa can guide me towards one of the less visited bathrooms, and – “

“ No, no, sorry. You shouldn’t have to do all that. Go home, get your rest, and I’ll see you when they let me get out of here.”

“ Are you.. sure? I can stay, Stiles.” Derek whispered the last bit, like a secret promise he was making only to Stiles.

“ Yeah, I’m sure. It’s okay, we’re going to be okay. Just – be careful out there. We don’t want anything happening to you without me being there to save your ass. Again.” Derek grinned, all joyful and bright.

“ Copy that. So, I guess I’ll just head out, and – I’ll see you, later? I mean, yeah, I’ll see you soon.” Stiles nodded, his smile matching Derek’s.

“ Let me just – “ Derek cut himself short, leaning down to leave the rest of his words between Stiles’ lips.

“ Take care of yourself.” Derek advised, pulling away. Stiles breathlessly nodded, words lost somewhere far away, his brain unable to process anything that wasn’t related to the feel of Derek’s lips.

“ I’m glad you’re okay, sheriff.” Derek stood, but his eyes were still on Stiles.

“ Yeah, back at you, Derek.” The sheriff snorted, something in him easing at the sight of his son so visibly in love. So loudly loved back. And then Derek left the room, followed by Cora, while Scott, Malia, and Liam spread across the empty space.

“ Fuck, he’s **_so_** hot.” The sheriff tenderly punched Stiles’ arm, but he laughed and laughed, until he started smelling of ache again. So, Stiles told him to sleep, and he moved his wheel chair to sit in front of the couch where everyone was scattered. They gave him all the updates that happened during the day that he was in and out of consciousness. And then they started discussing the new couple in the pack, and they compared times when they started suspecting something would happen between Stiles and Derek. Scott had the earliest time – because of course he would – he was the one that spent the most time around Stiles, and knew his scent by heart, so he’d started noticing it shifting with arousal or infatuation as soon as Derek had come, and his frustration would run too hot every time he’d argued with Derek. Liam started seeing the signs on Derek before Stiles, something would soften about him, would mellow up, when Stiles would compliment him or praise his alpha skills. Malia noticed it on both of them at the same time – the looks were just unmistakable. She wasn’t an expert on love, but things with Stiles and Derek had always run deeper than just pack, she just couldn’t put a name to it until Stiles jumped into that water smelling of devastation and paralyzing fear, even after he’d gotten his dad out.

When Stiles made sure his dad was in deep slumber, he let Scott push him back to his room, because he was exhausted by everything that had happened through his waking hours. Scott helped him to his bed, covered him up just the way he liked it, and sat next to him until he fell asleep. But right as his eyes started to shut, before he could slip into sleep any further, his phone dinged with a notification. He looked at the screen and it was Derek’s name, so he couldn’t just ignore it. He didn’t want to.

_D: How ironic would it be if I slipped in the shower and drowned right here after you’d done all that to get me out of that lake?_

_S. S: And the pool. Don’t forget me saving you from drowning that time Jackson had us cornered._

_D:_ **_Two_ ** _bodies of water that you’ve carried me out of. My hero._

_S. S: You’re too cute to die like that._

_D: Cute? I vividly remember you calling me **so hot** earlier. _

_S. S: I did no such thing!_

_D: Werewolf super-hearing, Stiles._

_S. S: Yeah, yeah, even super-hearing can be wrong sometimes._

_D: So, you **don’t** think I’m hot? _

_S. S: I think you’re a hot **mess**. _

_D: Yeah, but I’m your hot mess._

_S. S:_ **_So_ ** _corny, Derek._

_D: Did you get any rest at all?_

_S. S: Not really. I was trying to sleep when you texted._

_D: Oh, sorry. Go to sleep, we’ll talk later._

_S. S: No, I want to talk to you now._

_D: Will it help you sleep better if I was there? Talking to you face-to-face?_

_S. S: I mean, **eventually** , it will. But maybe we’ll do a few fun things first, you know, tire ourselves down._

_D: ……. I’m on my way._

Stiles laughed until Derek came through the door. Scott excused himself, told them to wait until he was further down the hallway before they did anything. They held themselves back for maybe 30 seconds, before they decided that - screw it. And they didn’t sleep for another 2 hours.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's a wrap on this series!


End file.
